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The age is roughly right, though Howe would be 69 or so. I don't know if you have watched the documentary I linked to above, but it includes several age-enhanced composites that have never been shown publicly before.

If there's a reasonable resemblance, you should pass this info on to the authorities. I saw a link for "tips" on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) Cold Case website -- let me look it up and post it here. It would be very easy for them to determine if this individual is *not* Dennis Howe -- if he was verifiably elsewhere in the years Howe was incarcerated, that does it. Also, Howe's fingerprints are on file and that would be easy to confirm or disconfirm.

While there's good reason to think Howe went to Montana originally, and that he may have stayed there while his brother was alive, now that that connection is gone he could be anywhere in the U.S. Over time, killers who aren't caught become less cautious. He could easily have reverted to using his real given name, figuring no one would be looking for him down there, and a shaved head would remove the hairstyle/hair color clues. Chain smoking is harder to change. I've never tried it but I have heard fake ID is reasonably easy to get.

There's a "Submit a tip" link at the top. It probably goes first to someone at the CBC. I have found them to be very professional and courteous. You can summarize your info and let them know how to contact you (by email or phone) if needed. While it may be a dead end, it may not be. Don't forget that many of the successful resolutions on AMW and "Unsolved Mysteries" came through people just like you, people who thought, "I'm probably wrong, but..." and contacted authorities.

In 1983, Dennis Melvin Howe kidnapped, raped, and murdered a little girl named Sharin Morningstar. He then stuffed her in a refrigerator and left town. This drifter is believed to have committed numerous other crimes, but he remains at large. Check out the link to the Toronto Police website...

What was weird was the fact that he had a car and a license and even got a ticket once. So I always wondered if he had phony id and if his real name was Dennis Langley.

Being in the US illegally does not preclude one from obtaining a legit driver's license from their state of residence, especially if they obtain it while they are still legal. Provided they do not enter the US illegally I think Canadian citizens are allowed a 6-month stay at their discretion, this leaves enough time to trade in their driver's license. If the authorities are not aware that a Canadian citizen has been here more than 6 months then it won't come up on police computers. Add to that the fact that Canadians blend in seamlessly in the US -especially in Florida- there is no reason for cops to be suspicious of them. That makes the US quite attractive for wanted Canadian criminals on the run (the opposite is also true). As long as they don't seek legit employment they can stay in the US almost indefinitely even under their real name.

Sharin Morningstar Keenan was playing in a park at Brunswick Avenue & Wells Street on January 23rd, 1983. Her lifeless body was located on February 1st, 1983 in a refrigrator at 482 Brunswick Avenue.

Details of Investigation

On Sunday, January 23rd, 1983, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Sharin Morningstar Keenan, 9 years-of-age, parted company with her mother to play in Jan Sibelius Park, at Brunswick Avenue and Wells Street, Toronto.

Shortly before 4:00 p.m., Sharin was seen taking to a man in the park.

Sharin had been told to come home at 4 p.m.; when she did not show up, her mother became concerned. After Sharin’s father was unable to locate his daughter in the park, and inquiries in the neighborhood were unsuccessful, the police were called.

A comprehensive police search and investigation took place. A systematic investigation of houses in the area of the park, resulted in the discovery of Sharin’s lifeless body in a refrigerator in a rooming house at 482 Brunswick Avenue.

Further investigation revealed that Dennis Melvyn Howe, 42 years-of-age at the time of this crime, an occupant of that rooming house, had not been seen since Monday, January 24th, 1983.

Homicide investigators obtained a warrant for the arrest of Dennis Melvyn Howe, on a charge of 1st-degree murder.

Wanted

Dennis Melvyn HOWE
Male
Date of birth: 1940/09/26

Mr. Howe was living at 482 Brunswick Avenue in a rooming house. He has not been seen since January 24th, 1983

Dennis Melvin HOWE is wanted for the murder and sexual molestation of Sharin Morningstar Keenan.

His also known by the aliases of: Michael Burns; Wayne King; Ralph Ferguson; Jim Myers.

... While most Canadian investigators think Howe would never have left the country of his birth, it is possible that he fled to the United States. (What better way to throw the hounds off your tracks than to go somewhere totally unexpected?) While Howe was estranged from most of his family, he had a brother who occasionally loaned him money. In the years following the murder of Sharin’, cops learned that his brother made a dozen trips to Montana and Washington. After being questioned about the reasons for those visits, they suddenly stopped. His brother died several years ago, taking any secret he may have had to his grave.

Is Dennis Melvyn Howe still alive? Is he hiding in plain sight, maybe in some small town, cared for by a wife and children? Is he languishing in a nursing facility, his identity unknown? ...

I have watched the David Ridgen CBC doc, Hoshowsky, and today reviewed the Globe and Mail stories at the library.

In Hoshowsky and/or(?) W5 it says Sharin's body had to be thawed before an autopsy one description was "icy". If true then her body to be brought to Howe's room from somewhere else because the old fridge pictured wouldn't freeze a human being.

I don't blame the police for focusing on Howe as they said only his fingerprints and DNA was found at the crime scene. But why would only his fingerprints be in that room it is a rooming-house. One investigating officer noted how neat the room was in fact they thought he had been in the army because of the neatness and because of his bearing and way of snapping around as if on a march. The doc not too politely tries to case aspersion on another resident of the rooming O.H. In the Globe article it is said he draws suspicion by not approaching police and seeming reluctant to talk.

Toronto Globe: very first sightings of Sharin which later disappear from the narrative perhaps for some good reason: 1. a taxi driver said he picked up Howe and Sharin and drove them to an address the police wouldn't disclose they used his description when they initially went door to door. 2. two boys said they saw Sharin talking to a "young man". A couple of days later the central witness of Sharin in the park who is on the W5 shows comes forward though he does not immediately recognize Sharin. Early on police say they have 6 eyewitnesses of some kind for the person they then thought was "Burns" but many or all differed.

There are a couple of articles where Sharin's Dad expresses his anger at one of the officers for refusing to bring out dogs claiming the dogs were tired and couldn't operate in snowy conditions. (I know my dog operates, follows scent fine in snowy conditions so her Dad has a point I think). He thinks if they had brought out dogs Sharin would have been found so close to Jan Sibelius Park and it sounds like she was alive for hours at least. Can't really judge myself but that is what is said.

The autopsy was done by Hillsdon-Smith so that raises immediate red flags.

For some reason, I thought I read somewhere that Howe may have had some connection to boats, perhaps living on one ... wonder if winter water would be cold enough to freeze a body? I am going to see if I can find a link..

Might take awhile to find a link to a blog or wherever.... so will have to put that in rumour..if inappropriate, mods, please remove..thanks.

The second link (scroll down for a better version of the picture) shows the picture that went around when Sharin went missing.

The first link is a picture of Sharin that was used for the CBC Cold Case show and I am pretty sure I am certain I have never seen it before that show.

I would love to know where that photo was taken and when. To me she looks years and years older like a young adolescent which of course is impossible and she seems to be healthier, have glowing skin, and have much more musculature. But surely they wouldn't age progress the picture of a murdered child.

A big question is how sophisticated Howe is. In the Globe articles I read today years later the detective Wayne Oldham is quoted as saying he doesn't think Howe is that bright though maybe clever in a con man sort of way. In the David Ridgen film for CBC his shop boss at Prince Albert Pen says that he could put together a machine of over 1,000 pieces without a manual and his boss at the "factory" (in reality a wholesaler) on Spadina said her had an unusual ability to memorize numbers, stock numbers. His tastes seem very very basis country and western, export beer, Players cigs, As for the fact that he called things and people "turkeys" I actually remember a thankfully brief time in the late 70s when that was a common thing to do. But he would stand out if he didn't lose the habit.

I am interested in why he was posted on Jamaica's Most Wanted specifically.

I have lots to say on this case and I think lots of info but I have to think what can be posted.

Last edited by Chorley8; 09-19-2012 at 09:02 PM.
Reason: last two posts corrected name of doc.

The second link (scroll down for a better version of the picture) shows the picture that went around when Sharin went missing.

The first link is a picture of Sharin that was used for the CBC Cold Case show and I am pretty sure I am certain I have never seen it before that show.

I would love to know where that photo was taken and when. To me she looks years and years older like a young adolescent which of course is impossible and she seems to be healthier, have glowing skin, and have much more musculature. But surely they wouldn't age progress the picture of a murdered child.

A big question is how sophisticated Howe is. In the Globe articles I read today years later the detective Wayne Oldham is quoted as saying he doesn't think Howe is that bright though maybe clever in a con man sort of way. In the David Ridgen film for CBC his shop boss at Prince Albert Pen says that he could put together a machine of over 1,000 pieces without a manual and his boss at the "factory" (in reality a wholesaler) on Spadina said her had an unusual ability to memorize numbers, stock numbers. His tastes seem very very basis country and western, export beer, Players cigs, As for the fact that he called things and people "turkeys" I actually remember a thankfully brief time in the late 70s when that was a common thing to do. But he would stand out if he didn't lose the habit.

I am interested in why he was posted on Jamaica's Most Wanted specifically.

I have lots to say on this case and I think lots of info but I have to think what can be posted.

Just saw poster of him on Thai site too! Wondering if maybe he looks a little better than might be assumed. These days it would not be out of place for him to have hair coloured and new teeth might change face for the better..hey he could even go very dark with tan and appear to be of different race.
I doubt somehow that he lost his taste for Country music.Wonder what his siblings, whoever may still be alive- look like now?